


Cold Coffee

by LoveElisa



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Biblical Scripture References (Abrahamic Religions), F/M, One Night Stands, POV Spencer Reid, Song: Cold Coffee (Ed Sheeran), Songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveElisa/pseuds/LoveElisa
Summary: "You just wanted me out, I'm not hanging around. I'll be fine." She huffed, looking around his apartment one more time before starting towards his door. She pulled it open with a force he had never seen from her, visibly steadying herself before turning back to glance at him. "I'll see you at work?"It was a rhetorical question, he knew that, but he also knew what she was trying to do. This was something he had seen her do before, extend the metaphorical olive branch.~<>~<>~<>~AKA Spencer wakes up next to his extremely attractive best friend/coworker and doesn't handle his thoughts and emotions responsibly.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s), Spencer Reid/Reader, Spencer Reid/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Cold Coffee

> **"She’s like cold coffee in the morning**
> 
> **I'm drunk off last night's whisky and coke**
> 
> **She'll make me shiver without warning**
> 
> **And make me laugh as if I'm in on the joke"**

Dr. Spencer Reid had never considered himself the kind of man to participate in bar hopping or one night stands. Now, he had to cross both off the list of "never"s that seemed to grow shorter every time he turned around.

He had woken up to the cold feeling of her feet against his calves. She was tucked into him, his own arms curled around her to keep her protectively close. At first, it had been hard for him to place who would be in his bed. Between the pounding of his head (he blamed his lack of water the night before, although there were various studies that disproved the idea) and the seemingly blinding light that had taken the place of the sun streaming through his windows, he couldn't quite focus on any detail from his night. He took as deep of a breath as he could manage without thinking he would wake the girl in an attempt to reset his brain.

The pretty brunette bartender, she was tall (maybe 5'11) with grey eyes and a seductive smile. He had done some simple magic tricks to keep her attention and she had given him that smile the entire time. Their interaction had been cut short when some guy on the other side of the bar caught her eye.

A woman with artificially dyed red hair, Kate, had brushed up on him when he was with Morgan. She was older, probably in her mid 40's. She'd stayed to talk with the two for a bit, but if either of them were to sleep with her, Dr. Reid pinned that on his colleague.

His mind started to the next girl, a younger woman with blonde framing bangs, before the girl pressed into his chest shifts. He held his breath as she pulled away from his chest just enough to turn over. Her face only really came into view when she reached a hand up, clumsily pushing her hair out of her eyes. 

_Shit_ , he thought, almost pulling away from her. Her name blazed through his mind. He’d worked at a desk across from her for a year and a half, exchanging little pleasantries at first before erupting into full-blown daylong conversations about a month in. She had always smiled when he spoke to her, even when cases had been particularly rough or he found himself getting too excited. She'd been nothing but kind and patient with him and now, here she was. 

The doctor let his eyes wander her face, taking in every little detail of her to commit to memory (involuntarily, although he did find himself exceedingly thankful in that moment). Everything that he had come to see as natural on her face was washed away in her sleep and the early morning light. He could picture the crease between her brows when she was thinking, the way she worried the inside of her lip between her teeth or fiddled with anything she could get her hands on. 

"Spencer?" Her voice rang, feeling both massive and minuscule at once. His eyes fluttered up from where they had been tracing the slope of her shoulders. How had he not noticed her shallow breaths? He met her eyes with guilt, tense and smiling anxiously. She gave him a sleepy smile, raising a hand to his face. Her fingers traced over his cheekbones and nose, gently tracing his face as though in a dream. It almost seemed to him like she'd forgotten she'd woken. The young doctor felt his face relax some, leaning into her soothing touch in a vain attempt to avoid the coming conversation. He took in a deep breath. 

"We don't have to-" he mumbled before cutting himself off. _We don't have to what, Spencer? What are you expecting from this? It was a mistake, she didn't want to sleep with you_. This thought sent a bout of anxiety through his system. Had he taken advantage of her? He hadn't been that drunk and he could still picture her flushed cheeks as they stumbled through his door and into his small apartment. Maybe she hadn't been sober enough to actually consent, he couldn't deal with the thought. 

Pushing himself abruptly upright, he looked over his bedroom before rushing to grab his boxers from the floor.

"You need to go." His voice was much firmer than he thought he could manage. He could feel tears pricking his eyes, how could he have done that? After a year and a half of dreaming of the day that he could hold her, the day he could call her his girl, and here he was kicking her out of his apartment after a night he could barely remember pieces of. This had not gone at all to plan. 

"Spencer, what are you-" she started, holding his crisp sheet against her bare skin as she sat up. He focused on the cream color of the sheet in an attempt to steady himself.

"Please. I'm sorry I just, I can't..." he gestured around himself, desperate for her to understand him as she always had. She'd been the one person he felt like he could always get his point across to regardless of how long it took him to do it. She'd been nothing but patient with him the entire time she'd known him, never making fun of him when he rambled on about something or when he got frustrated and his voice got squeaky - he'd always hated that about himself. 

She hadn't spoken in a bit too long, he decided. _She isn't gone, why hasn't she left?_ Spencer turned, glancing anxiously back at his bed. She'd abandoned his sheets and was standing by a practically open window, pulling one of her shoes on. 

Had this gone how he had hoped, he would be laughing at her right now. One shoe on, hopping to get the other on to her foot. She had found her bra thrown across the room and partially resting on the bottom of a bookshelf. Her heels had been resting by his bedroom door, but where was her dress? ~~Her~~ His sweater? He could picture the two of them, stumbling in from the street, her sparkling red dress and matching nails both covered by his plain grey cardigan. He'd grinned when she'd first shrugged it on, watching as it fell over her hands just slightly. At first, she'd decided to push it up her arms to keep her hands free. When they started their walk to his apartment, she'd resigned to letting it cover her hands to keep out the cold. 

Snapping himself out of his memories, he realized she had vacated his bedroom, leaving it significantly emptier than it had been when she was there, curled up in his sheets, sleeping exactly where she fit best. He made his way into the main room, watching as she tugged her dress into place against her thighs and fumbled with her phone. She was shaking as she pressed the phone to her ear. 

"Morgan? Yeah, I'm fine. Can you come pick me up?" Her forced confidence was only apparent in person, he decided. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that they hadn't just made a potentially friendship-ending mistake. This couldn’t be the end. They loved each other too much to let something like a one night mistake end everything. She ripped the device away from her ear, pressing the screen roughly before glancing back at him as though she was surprised to see him in his own apartment. Roughly, she ran the hand not gripping her phone through her hair before turning away from him. "He'll be here in ten, I'll wait outside."

"Like hell you will." He stepped towards her, again surprised by his own tone and word choice. Where had this side of him come from? He took a breath, forcing himself to steady. "It's the middle of October, you'll freeze."

"You just wanted me out, I'm not hanging around. I'll be fine." She huffed, looking around his apartment one more time before starting towards his door. She pulled it open with a force he had never seen from her, visibly steadying herself before turning back to glance at him. "I'll see you at work?"

It was a rhetorical question, he knew that, but he also knew what she was trying to do. This was something he had seen her do before, extend the metaphorical olive branch. His heart dropped, were they really that distant so suddenly? _You did tell her to leave, dumbass. You freaked out, you made her leave. You know why she's acting like this._

He nodded, eyes focused on the shimmer of her dress. He allowed his brain to run for a moment without trying to corral his thoughts. _Red symbolizes passionate love, seduction, adventure_ \- his thoughts were broken by the sound of his door shutting. He shook his hands as though he could force that stifling feeling from his body like if he kept moving, the feeling wouldn't settle in his chest where it could weigh him down further. He allowed his thoughts to reclaim him, moving towards the small kitchen to get a cup of yesterday’s coffee. _Power, violence, danger, and anger. In Christian theology, the color has long been seen as having a dark side. It is typically associated with sexual passion, anger, sin, and the devil._ He pulled one of the mugs from beside his sink, turned upside down to prevent dust from collecting. _Isaiah 1:18 says “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”_ He turned the mug over in his hands before moving to stand before the coffee pot, his own personal savior. _Red is seen negatively again in the Book of Revelation when the antichrist appears as a red monster ridden by the Whore of Babylon, a woman dressed in scarlet._ He poured the long cooled liquid energy into his mug with shaky hands, deciding to forgo his usual sugar dump, it's not like it would combine quickly anyway. 

He took his first sip hesitantly even though he knew that nothing could prepare him for the bitter taste on his tongue. The moment the flavor hit him a shiver ran over his body. Was he being a bit childish? Maybe. He pictured how his coworkers would react to the face he made when the bitter liquid hit his tongue and almost laughed fondly before his imagination focused on one particular coworker. He could practically see her standing in front of him, leaned against the counter in their little kitchenette at work and shaking her head at his childlike behavior. 

He poured the rest of his coffee down the drain.


End file.
